THAT SHE IS FINISHED PATCHING FOR HER AMBLYOPIA. At least for now. BUT STILL. Praise God! Over TWO YEARS of 2-3 hours per day of patching. OH, the constant remembering and nagging. But the doctor finally said she's seen enough improvement in that eye to let her go three months without patching it. If she holds with regressing, we'll go six months and see how that does. It was a very, very good day. The kids and I celebrated with lunch out at Red Robin and getting a GF miniature bundt cake from a cute bakery nearby.
The last Friday before school started we went over to David's parents' house to have dinner with them and his grandparents that were in town visiting. The next morning, David met his uncle and grandfather to play golf at a local course he's been wanting to try since we moved here. The kids and I had just done the pool the day before, so when I got home from my run and sent David off, we just hung out and played. That night we let Audrey pick where to eat dinner, which because one location was packed out, ended with us driving to the mall. I detest going anywhere near there on a weekend, but at least we got in a merry-go-round ride after dinner.
At church the next morning, most parents were talking about how excited and ready they were for back to school. I, on the other hand, spent the day trying to hide the tears that would come to my eyes every time I thought about sending her back. I hate it. Though Audrey was definitely more okay with it since meeting her teacher, she was still not bouncing off the wall about the idea. Which is why when she suddenly decided that afternoon that her new book bag was too large (you've only had three weeks to deal with this, kid), I decided not to rock her boat and we agreed she could use her old one while I attempted to exchange the new one for a smaller size. Crisis averted.
Monday morning dawned bright (or dark) and early. Though we didn't do a ton of sleeping in during the summer, it was still about half an hour earlier than their usual waking time. Audrey was okay, but Luke told me "he was NOT finished sleeping." After her special breakfast that included a chocolate chip pancake, she put on her a adorable new pale pink shirt with a cream lace heart and her lace navy tiered skirt. She held her chalkboard sign and stood grinning for a dozen pictures, because by now she knows it's just easier not to fight it.
How is this possible?!
David headed to work and Luke and I took her to school. We always pray on the way to school and that morning I could barely choke back the tears and keep the sense of urgency out of my voice as I asked God to protect her and bless her year. A dozen hugs and kisses later, she stepped out of the van and I promptly started blubbering as we drove away. Luke asked why I was crying and I answered honestly that I was sad and really going to miss Audrey. His reply was perfect: "Me too, Mommy. But I'm SO excited for her and all of the fun stuff she gets to do!" I know. And I am too. But man, it's hard to see her go. I don't think it gets any easier the older they get. I think you just learn how to better hide your sadness.
I didn't want to go back home that morning and have her absence thrown in my face, so Luke and I went to the gym and then out for donuts (because balance) and then ran some errands. We ticked down the hours until it was time for the bus and went out there in the blazing heat long before we needed to. She bounded down the bus steps and we settled in the house for snacks and stories. I tried not to ask a million questions, but it's so hard! It sounded like it had been a really good day and she was very much looking forward to all of the excitement that second grade held. Let's hope that continues, because it sure does make it so much easier when they enjoy it.
We purposely kept our calendar pretty clear for the rest of the week so we could give ourselves time to adjust to the new schedule. Luke and I cleaned house and I did a lot of Timber Trek work, but it was pretty low-key in the afternoons and evenings. I had Kidsignments drop-off on Friday morning, so David's mom kept him while I did that and hit up a few more businesses for Timber Trek sponsorships. As is our usual MO for the first week or two of school, we were in pajamas by 5pm that Friday night. We'd made it. One week down, 35 to go.
The next week things picked up a bit. We went down to Ikea that Sunday and bought the kids a new desk for the playroom since they had long outgrown their toddler Pottery Barn table. We ate lunch downtown and came home to put it together. That week I had my Kidsignments presale, we had Spirit Night for AJ's school at a local Rita's ice cream shop, there was a PTA meeting, a meal to a friend, appointments, and more. In other words, here we go Fall!
To top it off, I decided "Hey. Why not paint a chalkboard wall in the playroom?" So four coats of black paint, three days of drying/curing, and a good "seasoning" later, the kids got a new chalkboard wall. (And it didn't take me long to make another trip to Home Depot for plastic carpet cover to put down just under the baseboards. I had not thought through chalk dust on the new carpet.) It ended up looking great and the kids have been having a blast with it.
David had his annual guys' golf trip with Brian Taylor and some other guys to North Carolina that weekend. The kids and I were pretty lazy. They each got to pick one thing they wanted to do, so we did the pool on Friday night and then a pajama day until after naps on Saturday. I took them up to the outlets that afternoon and then to the playground and out to dinner. It really is so much fun to go and do with them now that they're older. David came home Sunday night, seemingly relaxed and grateful for a nice chill weekend. I was genuinely happy for him. I like to think it's because I'm becoming a better person, but I think it's more about how much easier older kids are coupled with the fact that I get my girls' trip with Kara in October.
We had curriculum night at Audrey's school the next week, where I solidified my position of room mom for the 5th straight year in a row. The mom of one of her best buddies is going to help me out this year, which I'm thankful for, especially since I'll be doing Luke's class as well as PTA BOD again this year.
The kids had a couple of playdates that week. Luke had his buddy Patrick over and they played like little angels for nearly three hours while I cleaned house. Audrey's friend Madison came over after school one day and they had a great time while Luke moped around until I let him have his fifteen minute turn playing with them. Being a little brother is hard, y'all.
That weekend we sent the kids to spend the night at David's parents while we went to Pike Nurseries and picked out plants for phase II of our side yard project. (The one we spent our anniversary doing, remember? Laying weed barrier and a rubber landscape border and creating a mulch trail was Phase I. Phase IA was having someone come clear out the woods of all the dead logs and debris. Phase II was planting plants.) An hour later we celebrated not yelling at one another by eating Mexican food and coming home to binge watch a few episodes of our newest favorite show "Person of Interest." We cut cable two months ago and, so far, are pretty pleased with the decision. We definitely like the $90 a month that we're saving. Even with out Netflix subscription, that's still $80 savings per month, or $960 a year! Why did we wait so long?!
We got up early that Saturday and took a compromised walk (I wanted to run, David wanted to sleep) around a nearby area I love. It's a big circle of unique houses tucked back in the trees and there are always a ton of deer out that let you walk right by them without flinching. We grabbed Chick-fil-A chicken biscuits on the way to Lowe's to stock up on more plants and lumber for David's small retaining wall project. We headed home and got to work on Phase II. And I do mean WORK. We started around 8am, stopped around noon for another trip to Lowe's and a drive-thru lunch, and then started back to work until around 3pm. (Sidenote - I learned an important lesson while digging holes: Should I ever need to get rid of a body, I'll have to figure out some way other than burying it because shoveling is not my best skill.) We showered, took a catnap, and then got up and cleaned and prepped for dinner. His parents brought the kids back over and we ate dinner and the peach cobbler I'd made to celebrate his mom's birthday. The kids gave her their homemade cards and presents. It was a good end to a day of hard work and we all slept very well that night.
So that was pretty much August: Lots of Timber Trek work, lots of home improvement projects, lots of consignment stuff, and school started for AJ. Shew.
Here's an update on my year's resolutions for July/Aug:
Organizing: Being consignment season, I did a great job of going drawer-by-drawer in the kids' rooms and playroom and a decent job of the basement. I did some of the master closet by filing the kids' artwork and papers I wanted to keep from last year, but I didn't touch clothes. I do still have a month left in this quarter, though, and I'll do a pretty good sweep of that when I change wardrobes to cooler temp clothes.
Serving: We did buy school supplies for kids in need and took them to church. We dropped the ball on marking cards for soldiers in July, though.
Connections with others: Bi-weekly date nights are going strong and a monthly dinner with a girlfriend is staying consistent too. We had a small group get together and had a good bit of family time, especially in July. We do really need to make it a priority to attend a neighborhood event, though. And as you can tell, my blogging is totally behind right now. But hey, yay for those date nights, right?!
I leave you with two funny quips from the kids:
- Me to Luke: "You doing okay, buddy? You seem a little quiet this morning." Luke: "Yeah. My face is just tired."
- Audrey turned in her two library books at school, but they weren't checked in, so the system still showed them as outstanding and she wasn't allowed to get any new ones. She was so worried about her teacher being mad that she was in tears one night and I promised to walk her in the next morning and help her sort it out. It calmed her a bit, but she just kept saying "But Mom! Mrs. H says the training wheels are off!" Oh boy. (Rest assured, the books were eventually found on the library shelves. I trust her more than I trust myself on stuff like that. She would NEVER lose a library book. That is a capital offense to her!)
Happy September, everyone! Enjoy the cooler temperatures and the fall festivities that are starting!
